Path 2

Path 2

Will a Chihuahua Actually Eat Taco Bell?

March 10, 2010

Ever since Gidget, the Chihuahua best known for her purported desire for Taco Bell, went to the big drive-through in the sky this summer, we’ve been thinking about Chihuahuas, and whether or not they actually like crappy Mexican food.

The breed is the smallest of all dogs and has a long history in Mexico, named after the state of Chihuahua. But if the dogs have some sort of mystical genetic memory, surely they would turn up their noses at a bastardization of their native cuisine! In the name of science, we decided to find out: Will a Chihuahua actually eat Taco Bell?

Exhibit A: Sammy, resident of Brooklyn and bona fide Chihuahua.

Exhibit B: “Food” procured from Taco Bell. While purchasing the samples for this experiment, we told the counterwoman we couldn’t eat onions, because the vegetable is bad for dogs. She looked at us like we were insane and assured us that no onion came within miles of the stuff.

Left to right we have a crunchy ground beef taco; a chalupa supreme with steak; and nachos supreme, topped with beans, ground beef, cheese, and sour cream.

We arranged the food and put Sammy down in front of it, equidistant from all three dishes to see which fake Mexican snack he would prefer, hypothesizing that he would go for the chalupa, on the strength of the steak.

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Sammy looked totally freaked out. He circled the food dubiously several times, as though he didn’t want to get too close. “What the hell is this stuff?” he seemed to be thinking. It was a far cry from “Yo quiero Taco Bell.”

But then he inched closer, and stuck his muzzle into the nachos. Chomp-chomp-chomp, slowly at first but then with greater enthusiasm. He paused for a moment to consider the chalupa, but didn’t seem particularly interested in eating it. As for the taco, it seems that Sammy has his standards, and crunchy beef tacos do not even merit a sniff.

Round one goes to the Chihuahua-endorsed nachos supreme.

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Sammy’s regular treats are dried liver bits. We wondered just how much he liked those nachos supreme — would he rather eat Taco Bell than his beloved liver cookies?

Ah, yes. Once exposed to the Taco Bell, Sammy was like an addict on the make, spurning his healthier treats for a few more bites of the nachos, until it was removed from under his nose.